In a surprising ruling reported here, a three judge panel of the the Second Circuit Court of Appeals barred former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett from participating in next week’s National Football League annual draft of collegiate players. Here are the prior posts on the Clarett case.
From the news report, it appears that the appellate court simply issued a short order barring Clarett from the draft, reasoning that any damage to Clarett from the stay was minimal because the NFL has agreed to hold a supplemental draft for Clarett and other underclassmen who are not eligible for next week’s draft before the upcoming NFL season if Clarett prevails on the merits of the case. Consequently, look for the Second Circuit to issue a more detailed decision soon on the merits of the NFL’s appeal of the lower court ruling that made Clarett eligible for the next week’s NFL draft.